Intervention
by spacegypsy1
Summary: D/V following Vala's return from Ba'al's extraction. A bit of angst, some romance, some intervention from their friends


Intervention

Spacegypsy1

D/V following Vala's return from Ba'al's extraction. A bit of angst, some romance, some intervention from their friends.

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

A/N: So, hit the little 'review' button at the bottom and let me know what you think of this one. b

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_It was something Ba'al's host had said when I'd tried, yet again, to give him words of encouragement. "Why?" The broken man cried. "Why keep trying? Who could ever love me? What child, mate, friend? Who could ever love a former host? Nothing and no one remains from my former life. We are shells left by dying monsters to wander aimlessly, without a home. There is no home. There is no where we are unknown. There is nothing. Nothing."_

_It was something I myself had thought on many occasions. But to hear it spoken aloud, those words like millions and millions of sharp barbs spat out to pierce every cell of my body, it finally sank in. The former host had illuminated a truth I'd tried to run from. I'd left him there that day with the Tok'ra._

_And what did I find when I returned? Daniel's eyes following me everywhere. Eyes sparkled with a new purpose. A question, it seems. A question of possibility. I'd wanted that for many years and now...now I cannot, will not answer. I do love him. I love him enough to know I would be the cause of great pain for him. Years ago Daniel told me why he wouldn't allow himself to love me...and he was right you know, I would rip him to pieces. Someday, at some point I would._

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

Daniel stared across the table, baffled by Vala's actions tonight. After Ba'al's extraction, Vala had stayed with the host for nearly three weeks. He'd missed her presence, even though he'd been in the control room every time she checked in. He'd had plenty to do; catching up on years of artifacts he'd not had the time before to study.

Things had been quiet around the SGC. Too quiet. It took time to adjust to being in his office for an entire week without some harrowing mission...or someone constantly chatting and fiddling with his tools and relics.

There was no denying he'd worried that she'd leave. In the beginning her updates had been full of excitement at her new found assignment. The Tok'ra never hesitated to report on how important her help had been and even alluded to a need for someone like her in their ranks.

And he had to admit, at least to himself, that her absence had taken a toll on him. They had shared some close calls before they'd left for the extraction ceremony. Moments where they were so drawn to each other that a kiss was imminent, but they'd pulled apart. Longing looks crossed between them, stolen glaces, 'accidental' touches, quick smiles. All of that seemed to have changed.

Vala had come home yesterday. Quiet and thoughtful, she sat in his office and not once did she sit on his desk, twirl a precious antique around and around, or try to manipulate him into asking her on a real date. So he asked her to dinner, and all he got was a shrug and a quick nod of her head.

"How about pie?" He asked.

Vala picked at the tablecloth. "No, you go ahead."

"Cake?"

"No, really, nothing."

"They have Tiramisu." He offered in a teasing voice.

"I'm ready to go."

Daniel started to reach for her hand, but her mood was so strange, he pulled back. "What's wrong?"

How could she possibly explain that her past seemed to be catching up with her? A product of staying in one place way too long! "Nothing." She insisted, eyes lifting to him for a moment, then dropping back to her nervous task.

"Something's wrong, Vala, you hardly touched your food and now you don't want dessert." It came out accusingly and Daniel was surprised when she seemed unconcerned by his outburst.

"Just not hungry."

"You only had a sip of your martini. Vala, what's wrong?" He became more insistent.

Eyes lifted again, shinny with tears, "I want to go home."

Coming out of his chair, concern clearly written on his face, Daniel motioned the waiter. "Okay, I'll get the check and take you back to the base."

"No. I want to go **home**, Daniel."

His stomach did a flip, and feared he knew what she meant. He wanted so badly to pretend she meant his home, but from her body language, her tone, he knew something else was going on. "Right." He almost sat down again stopping when her hand took his wrist. Blues eyes intent on her, he waited.

"Daniel." The way she said his name spoke volumes. And all of it foreboding.

He sank to the chair, head dropped, and he sighed deeply. "Where? Where is home?"

"My home planet. I need to go back. I need to... I don't know, prove something, I guess." _I can't tell you, darling, but I have to know if Ba'al's host was right. I have to know._

"They stoned you." His words were harsh as his gaze lifted to hers.

"Yes. But that was years ago. I want to see my house. If they didn't burn it down. I need to do this."

"What happened? Something with the Tok'ra? Ba'al's host?"

"No, darling. Well, actually, I suppose, watching Ba'al's host confront what had happened to him, made me think. And I can't stop thinking about that, his struggle, how hard it was for him. And how I never, ever confronted the fact that Qetesh stole my soul. That I never went back, later, or tried to come to terms with my past. I've seen so much. Done things. So many awful things. I'm tired of all this. I'm done with guns and guts and glory...that's the right saying, isn't it?"

When she let go of his wrist, Daniel reached for her hand. "Vala. Vala, I'll go with you."

"No!" Heads turned in their direction with her outburst.

"I just waited to late, didn't I?"

Confused, Vala frowned. "What?"

"You know, dinner and a movie, karaoke, then...then we go to my place." Daniel tried to smile, "Vala. I want you to spend the night with me. Sleep in my bed...with me."

Hands tented, she covered her mouth and nose, her gray eyes misty and wide above her fingers. T_oo late! Too late!_ Curls tumbled as she shook her head. "No, I...I can't," she responded with a muffled whisper. How could she let Daniel love her if she wasn't even sure she loved herself?

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

Somewhere along the line he seemed to have developed a sixth sense. Setting his pen down, Daniel pushed back in his chair, looked to the door and waited. It took nearly a full minute, but there he was…Jack...standing, hands in pockets and forced blank expression on his face, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb.

"Hey." The general half mumbled.

"Jack. Just so you know, I'm fine. You wasted a trip coming all this way, and don't try and deny that's why you're here. I'm sure Sam, or Teal'c, or Mitchell called you. Or all three. We were friends, me and Vala. She left because she wanted to. I think we all knew she would someday. I don't understand why everyone thinks it's harder on me. We all miss her."

Looking sly and knowing, Jack's hands come out of his pockets as he moved forward, held his arms out, palms towards each other – a well known prelude to some stuttered half-assed rehearsed speech. "Because, Daniel," Jack emphasized the 'because' with a coordinated, double handed chop, "you're in love with her."

The words hit Daniel like a blow to his chest. He didn't need to be reminded of that, and certainly not by Jack.

The look in Jack's eyes may as well have been a gun pointed at Daniel's head daring him to deny it. He tried anyway, sputtering and huffing indignantly, turning away in anger.

"Mad huh? Pissed off and ready to fight. Can't really say it's not the truth, but still you want to be angry at me, or anybody who happens to remind you of your current emotional state, right? Right? Good, 'bout time."

"Go away, Jack. I have work to do."

"That you do, Danny-boy, that you do. So... I hear you've asked Landry for a leave of absence. I also hear you've asked for permission to take your little vacation off-world. And, as I've heard, you opted to go to some way out there planet and study some way out there rocks. Interesting thing, that planet is...in relative terms – according to Carter...close to Vala's home planet. Just days...days, Daniel, after she left."

Daniel ducked his head and began to scribble in his journal. "I never hid the fact that I wanted to check on her. What's wrong with doing some research and stopping by to see a friend?"

"That's what's wrong." Jack was standing over him now.

Daniel looked up. "What? What are you talking about?"

"Doing some research and stopping by to see a friend. That's just so wrong! Come on, Daniel, if you want her, you've got to go for broke. Let the world know. Chase after her. Make a fool of yourself...ah, I mean in a good way."

Out of his chair he came. Daniel stood suddenly, surprising Jack. "Look who's talking!"

"I'm talking about you! This is about you and Vala. And about the rest of us...who have known for a long, long time you two were meant for each other...to make sure you don't screw this up this time. We're going. We're all going. Me, Carter, Mitchell and Teal'c. Oh, and you. And there will be no rock looking, by the way."

Mouth agape, Daniel stared. Like a fish out of water, his mouth worked but not a sound or even a breath came out.

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

Most of the roof and walls of the house were still intact, only a small corner missing from the structure, a few broken windows and the door torn from the hinges. She had no idea what had happened. Vandals or vigilantes, nature or neglect.

For days she'd stayed in this hovel often curled up in a fetal position on the hard, cold, and long unused hearth and shivered with memories long suppressed. The storm, both of thunder, lightening and heavy rain, as well as emotions, had passed some hours ago, leaving her empty and lonely, accomplishing nothing.

In retrospect, she wished she'd not come. Nothing could have prepared her for the onslaught of memories, the coldness of the villagers, the desolate feeling of lonesomeness, or the heartbreak of having walked away for him.

There was no denying Daniel was falling in love with her, but something had changed in her heart after Ba'al's extraction. Not her love for Daniel. But her own lack of self love. Though she'd not been a host for thousands of years as Ba'al had, she knew, like the host she'd left on the Tok'ra world, she would never be the same as before. Anyone, even if hosted for a day, could never again be the same. She had denied that fact for far too long.

Tears streaming down her soot covered face Vala whimpered and drew her knees farther in. The feeling of loss and the coldness of the stone hearth sending tremors through her. _But he's different_, she told her own demon self. _Hmph! But you are not_. Her fists tightened. _Yes, yes I am, and I love him. Really, really love him._

"_Then fight for him_." The voice of her mother seemed to whisper on the still air.

Rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands, Vala sat up, wrapping her arms around her knees. "I'm done fighting!"

"_You would let Qetesh win, even now? Vala, darling daughter, you have not yet begun to fight. You have played and teased and run in fear from your own love_."

"Stop! You're not supposed to be here! Go away!" Vala rested her chin on her knees refusing to listen to what she hoped was her own subconscious and not some ghost.

"Vala. Please just listen to me."

_Now I'm imagining Daniel's voice. _Picking up the porcelain dish near her feet, Vala tossed it over her head and hurled it in the direction of the imagined voice. "Get out! Get out!"

~0o0o0o0o0o~

Dejected, Daniel returned to camp to report to his friends. "I told you…" he told them, "…she wouldn't talk to me."

"Jackson, you've been gone all of twenty minutes. You gotta put some effort into this." Cam chucked a stick into the fire. "Go back and try again."

"Pfft!" Daniel lowered himself to sit between Teal'c and Sam, where he felt safest.

"DanielJackson." "Daniel." Both Teal'c and Sam spoke his name at once.

Across the fire Jack stared at him.

"Okay. Fine!" He stood and sauntered off towards the small cottage again.

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

Uncertain, he stood at the open doorway. Vala lay curled on the stone floor facing the empty fireplace. He watched her even breathing as she slept. The full moon cast its bright beam across the room, illuminating her like a soft spotlight.

By far the saddest sight he'd ever seen – Vala there like Cinderella left to sleep in soot and ashes. Alone. But he was no prince charming. Each step he took towards her caused his heart to tighten more.

"Vala?" His whisper sounded surreal as he stood over her. When she didn't move Daniel quietly sat behind her and gently touched her shoulder, finding her cold and deep in exhausted sleep.

Removing his jacket he placed it over her and lay down, tucking his knees up in the crook of hers and placing an arm around her waist. He pillowed his head on his other arm, his nose deep in her hair, and closed his eyes.

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

Vala stirred at sunrise, confused by the warm feel of his body pressed to hers. Beautiful dream, she thought, complete with soft snore and weight of his arm across her waist. Her body ached where it lay on the stone, but she refused to move, relishing in the comfort of the dream remnants.

The time to return home had come. Her true home, where her friends, her only real family, lived. It didn't matter anymore that she was different. And the host had been wrong. Her friends accepted her for who she really was and all of them had experienced some deep, life changing events as she had. All of them were different and they cared for her as no one else in the universe could.

"Daniel, I love you." She whispered. Snuggling deeper into the dream body behind her she drifted back to sleep.

"I know, sweetheart. I love you, too."

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

They hadn't slept at all. Cam lay back on the ground, hands behind his head staring at the lightening sky. Sam, head on Jack's shoulder, looked off in the direction towards the cottage. Jack, arm around Sam's back, tilted his head to rest against hers. Teal'c refueled the fire, face relaxed and a smile on his lips.

"He didn't come back. That's a good sign, right?"

"Indeed, ColonelMitchell."

"What if she doesn't come home?" Sam's whisper hung in the dew laden air.

After long minutes, Jack squeezed Sam closer, turned his head and kissed her temple. "She will, Carter. He'll drag her back if he has to."

"What if he starts stumblin' over his words and says the wrong thing?" Cam sat up with a sudden worried frown.

"He's a linguist, for crying out loud!"

Moving slightly away from Jack, Sam looked up. "That doesn't seem to have helped him in the past."

"Right." Now Jack was worried.

At the same moment and apparently with the same thought, Jack, Sam, and Cam all stood, their gaze on the cottage far in the distance.

"I'll go check." The three said in unison.

Teal'c set the coffee pot on the fire and without turning or raising his voice he cautioned them, "You are sure you want to…interrupt them?"

"Oh." The other three uttered as they sat back down.

"I am preparing your coffee. We will wait."

"Yeah, right."

"Right."

"Right."

_~0o0o0o0o0o~_

"Good morning." His voice was gruff with sleep at her ear.

"Daniel?"

He felt her stiffen against him. "Yep, you were expecting someone else?"

She turned in his arms. "Daniel!" Her face, though dirty with soot and ash, was bright with happiness. "Daniel."

Nose to nose they grinned at each other.

"I missed you. I thought I'd drop by and check on you. In fact, I was miserable without you. I thought maybe we could talk. Or not talk. Well, to be honest, I've come to take you home. That is to say, my home…house…apartment. I mean, that is if you'll have me…I thought…I hoped that we could, you know, try, well, not try, but actually be together. As in…together. Like a couple. Not like dating, I don't mean just dating, if you know what I mean?"

"Daniel?"

"Hmm?"

"My darling linguist, are you proposing?"

"I am."

"And last night. Did you say 'I love you, too'?"

"I did."

"And you know that I love you?"

"I do."

"I'm very uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry, I should have said it better, taken time to…"

"No. I mean on the floor."

"Oh." He turned to his back taking her atop him. "Better?"

"Much. I'm sorry I left. But not sorry, too. Because it took me leaving and hiding in this hovel to realize my home is where my heart is, and my heart is wherever you are." She snuggled deep into his body, unbuttoning his shirt so she could lay her cheek on his bare skin. "And will we be able to work together?"

Kissing the top of her head he mumbled against her hair. "I'm sure I'll continue to fuss and you to chatter and fidget."

She kissed his chest. "I mean will they separate us?"

He hadn't thought about that. "No one will separate us, Vala, ever."

Her heart swelled and she drew in the scent of him. "I could join another team."

"No. We'll do something. Treasure hunt. Probably nothing will change, but if it does I could teach, though you'd be bored."

"I'm never really bored when I'm with you, but I'm sure I'll continue to whine about it."

Lifting her chin, Daniel set his mouth on her lips, with just the whisper of a kiss. "I wouldn't have it any other way." At her pleasant sigh, he deepened the kiss almost desperately.

~END


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